Hotel Ezra Cornell

Hotel Ezra Cornell is an annual weekend-long educational conference put on by the students of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration for leaders of the hospitality industry. It comprises educational seminars, leisure activities, and food and beverage events. The purpose of the weekend is for students to practice the skills they have learned in the classroom and to showcase their talents to industry professionals.

HEC is planned, managed, and staffed entirely by students. Over the course of one academic year, the student Board of Directors, Board Assistants, and Function Managers plan all of the details of HEC, and during the weekend, over 300 students get involved in the work. From the food on the guests' plates to the decorations at all functions to the turndown service at night, everything is done by students. Faculty members act only as advisers: ultimately, the entire weekend is in the hands of the students.

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Begun in 1926, Hotel Ezra Cornell is a tradition older than the Hotel School itself. HEC dates back to 1925, when Dean Howard Meek took a group of students to New York City to manage the Hotel Astor for a day.[1] Upon returning to Ithaca, the students decided to hold the grand opening of "The Only Hotel for a Day". The students planned and managed an extravagant formal dinner party for the pioneers on the hospitality industry, and thus, on May 7, 1926, in Risley Hall on Cornell's campus, Hotel Ezra Cornell was born.

The second year of HEC was a turning point in the history of the School. One of the world's leading hoteliers, Ellsworth Milton Statler, was a guest of honor, attending to assess the quality of Cornell's hotel program. At the main banquet, Statler commented, "I'm converted. Meek can have any damn thing he wants."[2]

In years to come, HEC became more and more elaborate. The weekends began adopting themes. For example, HEC 60 was themed "Diamond Robbery" and took after a mystery theater. The whole weekend was centered on solving a fictitious diamond robbery, with each social event providing clues. By the end, particularly perceptive guests were able to solve the mystery. However, the themes ended with HEC 77, when the focus of the weekend shifted from socializing to learning.

Students coined the tag line "The Best Ever" to describe how their HEC would top all previous HECs.[3]